Comments on: Can we be everything for everyone?

By: Barbara A. Albright

Barbara A. Albright — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:27:23 +0000

I responded with a long post & lost it (of course)

no #: yes, you should report the illegal

#1: I believe that also qualifies as illegal, not to mention unethical

#2 : I support the premise if and if they put meat behind it—meaning imposed public sanctions

#3 : how can I argue that? Of course if a nifty course as to “how to make the most $$$ by deceiving your clients isn’t offered—who would attend with an ulterior motive?

Oh, thanks, Joey for the timely on topic! (I needed reminder!)

By: Dennis Leon, DVM

Dennis Leon, DVM — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:14:02 +0000

i’m not sure i totally agree with you that pressure from within will drive the bad ones out. if a doctor is doing something illegal, all that needs to be done is reporting their behavior to the right authorities. would i rat out a neighboring veterinarian doing something against the law (e.g., operating without a license)? sure i would, but i can’t speak for anyone else out there.
if the “bad bunch” is just being unethical …they will continue to do so until they can’t make a living doing that anymore. period. they clearly don’t care what high standard of practice the rest of us have set. they just need to fund their retirements.
i just got back from the north american veterinary conference -more than 5000 veterinarians from around the world were in attendance in order to further their education. i learned three things there (well, not just three things, but two things relevant to this discussion):
1) a colleague of mine from school once worked at a hospital located in NY where the business model was based on price gouging every client. they never expected repeat business, so they would milk everyone dry the first time around.
2) AAHA (the american animal hospital association) is launching a $1M advertising campaign on animal planet to educate owners on the importance of finding a veterinary facility that is inspected/accredited by them. while this is a good start, i can think of a few hospitals that are accredited, but still very sketchy.
3) the veterinarians who most need to be attending continuing education don’t go to these sort of conferences.

By: Barbara A. Albright

Barbara A. Albright — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:47:26 +0000

Dr. Leon: Boycott, yes—but expose? How is the average client supposed to accomplish that? (Not me, of course, since I graduated beyond average).

It is peer pressure from WITHIN, that will drive change and force the bad bunch out.

Don’t you think in my teensy tiny state of NH consisting of 550 practicing veterinarians—that more than say one or two was privy to the abhorrent practice of non-DEA licensed clinic(s)?

Where were they THEN and now, after someone came forward to denounce the lowest of care for a dying pet?
More importantly, where were they for the last decade?

Unless of course, you believe that this case could be some isolated mistake—

By: Dennis Leon, DVM

Dennis Leon, DVM — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:37:56 +0000

willing to do? burn them to the ground? hahaha! unfortunately, the best you can do is expose them for what they are and boycott their practices.

By: Barbara A. Albright

Barbara A. Albright — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 02:49:06 +0000

What are you willing to do about the one’s charging enough but not delivering the quality or standard of care?